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Ritual Manuals And Performance in Early China: The *Ci Mamei Manuscript From Zhangjiashan M336

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2025

Oscar Qiu Jun Zheng
Oscar Qiu Jun Zheng*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania, USA
*
Email: qjzheng@sas.upenn.edu.
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Abstract

Excavated from the Western Han tomb M336 at Zhangjiashan 張家山, Hubei 湖北, and published in 2022, the *Ci Mamei 祠馬禖 bamboo manuscript has yet to receive much attention. This article serves as a preliminary study of the manuscript, providing an annotated translation of its contents, a description of its codicological features, an examination of the ritual it documents, and a survey of its linguistic characteristics. The *Ci Mamei manuscript is studied in close comparison with the Ma 馬 text from the Qin 秦 tomb M11 at Shuihudi 睡虎地, as well as bamboo strip fragments from the Han 漢 (202 bce–220 ce) Jianshui Jinguan 肩水金關 frontier that document a similar ritual. I argue that *Ci Mamei, like the Shuihudi Ma text, is a ritual manual recording instructions on the performance of a sacrificial ritual. I show that the main purpose of the *Ci Mamei and Ma rituals is to pray for the overall well-being of horses, not specifically for having more newborn foals. I then illustrate that rhyme changes in the *Ci Mamei text denote different phases of the sacrifice. Lastly, I discuss the generic and formulaic properties of the language in *Ci Mamei, noting the possibility that the manuscript was interred because its language was believed to possess apotropaic qualities.

早期中國禮儀指引與實踐——張家山 336 號墓漢簡⟨祠馬禖⟩探賾

早期中國禮儀指引與實踐——張家山 336 號墓漢簡⟨祠馬禖⟩探賾

鄭楸鋆

提要

⟨祠馬禖⟩出土於湖北張家山 336 號西漢墓，因其新近出版，是以未得學界廣泛關注。本文首先詳細描述⟨祠馬禖⟩之文本形制與語言特徵，並亦提供簡文英譯。本文復將對讀⟨祠馬禖⟩與睡虎地秦簡⟪日書甲種・馬⟫，指出⟨祠馬禖⟩與⟨馬⟩均屬早期中國「禮儀指引」文本，且其所載祠祝儀式之主要目的並非在於為馬匹求子，而在祈願馬匹身體強健；又肩水金關漢簡有「馬禖祝辭」殘簡數枚，本文亦予討論。本文繼而探究⟨祠馬禖⟩祈文與祝辭之用韻特色，說明簡文其實利用換韻以標記祠祝儀式之不同階段。本文最後指出⟨祠馬禖⟩時見襲用互見秦漢以至六朝文獻之祠祝套語，而⟨祠馬禖⟩成為隨葬文本之原因，或是在於漢人相信相關祠祝套語具備辟邪作用。

Keywords

Ci MameiZhangjiashanritual manualsritual performance祠馬禖張家山禮儀指引禮儀實踐

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Type
Research Article
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Early China , Volume 47 , September 2024 , pp. 153 - 179
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Introduction

*Ci Mamei 祠馬禖Footnote 1 (Sacrifice for the Horse Intercessor)Footnote 2 is a ten-strip bamboo manuscript excavated from tomb M336 (numbered 136 in the initial excavation report)Footnote 3 in Zhangjiashan 張家山, Jiangling County 江陵縣, Hubei 湖北. Conducted in early 1988, the excavation found 827 bamboo strips in the tomb, 777 of which were wrapped in hemp and stored in a bamboo basket (si 笥) at the southern corner of the head chamber (touxiang 頭箱). In addition to *Ci Mamei, these strips include five other texts, namely Gongling 功令 (Ordinance of Merits), *Chegu shiqi 徹谷食氣 (Forgoing Grain and Ingesting Vapor), Dao Zhi 盜跖 (Robber Zhi), *Han lü shiliu zhang 漢律十六章 (Sixteen Chapters of Han Law), and Qinian zhiri 七年質日 (Official Calendar of the Seventh Year). The remaining 50 strips comprise the tomb inventory list (qiance 遣冊) and were placed separately in the western section of the side chamber (bianxiang 邊箱).Footnote 4

M336 is but 400 meters from M247,Footnote 5 wherein a rich collection of legal, mathematical, and medical texts was found.Footnote 6 Archeologists date M247 to the early Western Han 西漢 (202 bce–8 ce), no later than Emperor Jing’s 景 (Liu Qi 劉啟; r. 157–141 bce) reign.Footnote 7 The Qinian zhiri calendar from M336 records dates that correspond to the seventh year (173 bce) of the reign of Emperor Wen 文 (Liu Heng 劉恆; r. 180–157 bce).Footnote 8 Research into M336’s pottery typology also dates the tomb to the early Western Han around 170 bce,Footnote 9 which is close to the date of M247. There is no evidence revealing the exact identity of M336’s occupant. On the basis of the tomb’s size and layout, as well as the assemblage of grave goods, it has been suggested that the occupant was a scribal official (li 吏) whose rank was above Fifth Grandee (Wu dafu 五大夫).Footnote 10

This article studies the *Ci Mamei manuscript, focusing on its codicological features, content, language, use of rhymes, and archeological context. An annotated translation of the text is also provided. Additionally, this article looks into the similarities and differences in the language and depiction of ritual performance between the *Ci Mamei and Ma 馬 (Horses)Footnote 11 texts, the latter from a Qin 秦 tomb M11 in Shuihudi 睡虎地, Yunmeng 雲夢 County, which is in Hubei as well.Footnote 12 Bamboo strip fragments from the Han (202 bce–220 ce) Jianshui Jinguan 肩水金關 frontier in present-day Gansu 甘肅 that document a similar ritual are also discussed.Footnote 13 The main goal of the rituals that are recorded in these sources, as I will show, is to pray for the overall well-being of horses, not specifically for their fertility. Moreover, the *Ci Mamei and Ma texts reveal different perceptions of the Horse Intercessor (Mamei 馬禖)—in the Ma text it is viewed as a deity whose influence is only limited to the realm of horses, whereas in *Ci Mamei it is believed to traverse between the worlds of horses and human beings. I also argue that the *Ci Mamei sacrifice might have functioned on a “like-attracts-like” principle, which involves the construction of a ritual locus with a strong symbolism of masculinity for invoking male deities. I then illustrate that rhyme changes in the invocation (qi 祈) and prayers (zhu 祝) of the *Ci Mamei text correspond to different phases of the sacrifice. Lastly, I discuss the generic and formulaic properties of the language in the *Ci Mamei text, noting the possibility that the manuscript was interred because it was believed to possess apotropaic qualities.

Annotated Translation

The following conventions are observed:

  1. 1. The transcription provided has been normalized to show the underlying words rather than the original graphs in the manuscript.Footnote 14

  2. 2. Numbers in square brackets [ ] are strip numbers.

  3. 3. Rhymes are underlined and put in bold text. The main rhyme *-aŋ (traditional Yang 陽) is labeled “A.” Rhymes sharing the same main vowel *-a with the main rhyme are labeled “a.” Secondary rhymes (i.e., rhymes not sharing the same main vowel *-a with the main rhyme) are labeled “B.”Footnote 15

  4. 4. The official publication of the Zhangjiashan M336 manuscripts includes commentaries on the manuscripts by a team of scholars led by Peng Hao 彭浩, hereafter referred to as “the editors.”

  5. 5. Repetition marks 重文號 “=” in the original manuscript are omitted in the transcription. Hook marks “ ⌞” are retained.

  6. 6. Old Chinese phonological reconstructions are from William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart, Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).

The *Ci Mamei text reads as follows:

祠置狀：三席、席四餟。Footnote 16 從者在後，亦四餟。其一席東向，牡石Footnote 17 居中央。Footnote 18 [1] 一席南向、一席北向。先餟石上，沃以酒。⌞祠及炊烹Footnote 19 毋令女子。[2] 已食，盡取餘、骨埋地中，毋予女子及犬其骨。Footnote 20 [3]

The layout of the setup for the sacrifice: three mats, and on each mat [the main officiant of the ritual] makes food offerings four times. The attendant, following [the main officiant], makes food offerings four times as well. One of the mats faces east, on which the male stone is placed at the center. One mat faces south, and one faces north. First, make food offerings on the stone, pouring wine over [the offering]. Do not let women participate in the sacrifice or cook [the food offerings]. After having finished the food, take all the leftover sacrificial meat and bones and bury them under ground; do not give the bones to women or dogs.

Exclaim three times and invoke [the deities], saying,

“I venture to ask [deities of] the Great and Minor Lineages of the Horse Intercessor of Day Bing, the Embellished Horse with a White Forehead, and the Illustrious Deity,

to descend and be received on the mats.

For the sake of my horses, I, so-and-so,

am offering you propitious and fattened sacrificial animals.

My lords, grace us [with your presence], unhitch the horses from your carriages (i.e., to arrive at the site of the ritual),

approach and settle on the mats, and be so-and-so’s (i.e., “my”) great guests.”

Then, pluck the hair [of the sacrificial animals] so as to [prepare them for] the sacrifice.

Pray, saying,

“My lords, [please feel free to] amble at your leisure,

and allow [me, your humble] servitor, to butcher and cook [the sacrificial animals].”

Then, kill a pig, cook [its meat] until done, and make another offering [with it].

Pray, following the previous [prayer], saying,

“From when I previously offered you uncooked [sacrificial animals],

to now when I offer you cooked ones,

my lords, [please] eat and drink with gusto,

and give me, so-and-so, great fortune.

Give a thousand autumns (i.e., longevity) to my horses with a crimson coat and black tail, those with a white face and forehead, those that are purely black, those with a white body, red mane, and golden eyes, as well as those that are gray.

Give [my horses] no infirmities of the mouth,

and let [their mouths] feed upon the hundred grasses and flowers.

Give [my horses] no infirmities of the stomach,

and let [their stomachs] be a pouch for the hundred grasses.

Give [my horses] no infirmities of the neck, and let [their necks] excel at upholding the yoke and crossbar.

Give [my horses] no infirmities of the legs, and let [their legs] excel at galloping and trotting.

Give [my horses] no infirmities of the spine, and let [their spines] be sturdy for the hundred parts of [their] bodies.

Give [my horses] no infirmities of the tail, and let [their tails] repel mosquitoes and horseflies.”

Codicological Features

The *Ci Mamei manuscript consists of 10 bamboo strips that measure 23 cm in length and 0.7 cm in width.Footnote 33 The strips are very well-preserved: all of them are intact. Despite having sustained minor scratches on strips 2 and 3, the manuscript’s overall legibility is unaffected. The text recorded on the strips is complete, comprised of 210 graphs. Each fully inscribed strip bears 21 to 24 graphs.

Strips of the *Ci Mamei manuscript are the shortest among those interred in M336,Footnote 34 indicating that *Ci Mamei was produced as an independent manuscript rather than as a part of other manuscripts from the same tomb.Footnote 35 The strips were once held together by three binding cords, for which space was left at the top, middle, and bottom of each strip. The middle space on each strip was probably caused by the scribe’s attempts at avoiding the middle binding cord while writing,Footnote 36 which indicates that graphs were added onto the strips after they were bound.Footnote 37

The manuscript is written in an early form of the clerical script (guli 古隸), similar to that in other manuscripts from M336, as well as bamboo and silk manuscripts from other Western Han tombs such as Zhangjiashan M247, Mawangdui 馬王堆 M3, Fuyang 阜陽 M1, and Yinqueshan 銀雀山 M1.Footnote 38 Graphs in the *Ci Mamei manuscript have no significant variation in the quality of their strokes or their graphic structures, indicating that the manuscript is written in one hand, likely by a single scribe. One noteworthy characteristic of the manuscript’s calligraphy is that quite a number of its graphs feature elongated strokes known as “drooping legs” (chuijiao 垂腳),Footnote 39 a typical trait of the early clerical script which appears in manuscripts from Zhangjiashan M247 as well. Similar elongated strokes are also observed in manuscripts from Qin tombs such as Shuihudi M11 and Zhoujiatai 周家臺 M30 (Figure 1).Footnote 40

Figure 1.

“Drooping leg” strokes in manuscripts from Zhangjiashan M336, M247, Shuihudi M11, and Zhoujiatai M30.

Two types of punctuation marks are used in the *Ci Mamei manuscript, namely the repetition mark “=” on strip 1, which indicates the repetition of the preceding graph, and hook marks “⌞” on strips 2, 5, 7, and 8.Footnote 41 Hook marks in many early Chinese manuscripts serve a similar function to commas or periods in modern Chinese orthography, dividing text into meaningful units according to its logical, grammatical, or rhetorical structure. In the *Ci Mamei manuscript, the first hook mark appears on strip 2 between the lines “First, make food offerings on the stone, and pour wine over [the food]” (先餟石上，沃以酒) and “Do not let women participate in the sacrifice or cook [the food offerings]” (祠及炊烹毋令女子)—the hook mark separates instructions on what should be done during the ritual from what should not. The second hook mark is on strip 5 between the lines “to be so-and-so’s great guests” (為某大客) and “Then, pluck the hair [of the sacrificial animals] so as to [prepare them for] the sacrifice” (因搣毛以祭). This second hook mark signals the delineation between the former clause, which is the closing line of the invocation (qi 祈), and the latter clause, an instruction on what should be done after reciting the invocation. Four hook marks are observable on strips 7 and 8 among names of horses of different coat colors (駵、⌞駹、⌞驪、⌞馼、⌞騩)—these hook marks are likely to be “separators,”Footnote 42 which serve to clarify that the words in this line denote horses of five distinct colors.

Performance and Taboos of the Sacrifice

The *Ci Mamei text is divided into two sections, the division being marked by a break in the text on strip 3.Footnote 43 The first section (strips 1–3) describes the setup, paraphernalia, and taboos of the sacrifice, alongside instructions on how food and wine offerings are to be made. In addition to further instructions on how the sacrifice is to proceed, the second section (strips 4–10) consists of an invocation (qi 祈) that invites deities to the site of the ritual, as well as two prayers (zhu 祝), one asking the deities to amble at their leisure while food and wine offerings are being prepared, the other requesting their blessing on the horses and the officiant himself.Footnote 44

The content of *Ci Mamei shares certain similarities with Ma, a text found at the very end of the *Daybook A 日書甲種 manuscript from Shuihudi M11,Footnote 45 as well as a few bamboo strip fragments from the Han Jianshui Jinguan frontier. The Jianshui Jinguan strips are so damaged that only fragments of what is believed to be the ritual’s invocations and prayers remain:

不早不暮，得主君閒暇，肥豚▫乳、Footnote 46 黍飯清酒，至主君所。主君上方▫▫▫ [73EJT11: 5] Footnote 47

Neither early nor late, when you are at your leisure, my Master-and-Lord, fattened pigs, milk, millet rice, and clear wine will arrive where [you] reside. [You], my Master-and-Lord, from up above …

… 脊強；毋予皮毛疾，以敝Footnote 48 身剛；毋予脅疾，以成 … [73EJT11: 23]Footnote 49

… the spine is strong. Give [my horses] no infirmities of the skin and fur, and let [them] reach [the state of] having a strong body. Give [my horses] no infirmities of the ribs, and let [them] achieve …

… 之央；毋予鼻疾 … [73EJT24: 976]Footnote 50

… the center (?) of … Give [my horses] no infirmities of the nose …

… 草英；毋予目疾，令視精 … [73EJT26: 119]Footnote 51

… grasses and flowers. Give [my horses] no infirmities of the eyes, and let [them] see the essence …

The content on strip 73EJT11: 5Footnote 52 is highly similar to the line “Today is a favorable day; fattened pigs, clear wine, and beautifully grown white millet have arrived where [you], my Master-and-Lord, reside” (今日良日，肥豚、清酒、美白粱，到主君所) in the Shuihudi Ma text.Footnote 53 The remaining three strips listed above record formulaic incantations similar to those on strips 8 to 10 of the *Ci Mamei manuscript.Footnote 54

The sacrifices recorded in *Ci Mamei and Ma are similar in the sense that they are both performed to worship the Horse Intercessor, and both are performed for horses.Footnote 55 Although the Jianshui Jinguan fragments do not specify that the ritual was dedicated to the Horse Intercessor and performed for horses, the aforementioned textual similarities bespeak its relevance to the Ma and *Ci Mamei sacrifices. Another notable similarity is that the rituals documented in all three sources involve the offering of fattened pigs (feitun 肥豚) and wine.

Roel Sterckx identifies the Shuihudi Ma text as a “ritual primer” intended not for ritual experts, but for anyone interested in learning about and performing the ritual.Footnote 56 The *Ci Mamei text offers detailed instructions on the ritual, providing a description of the setup and orientation of the sacrificial locus, clearly listing taboos of the ritual, as well as making reminders regarding how the food offerings are to be prepared and how they should be disposed of after the ritual. Hence, it is likely that the *Ci Mamei text is also a primer of a do-it-yourself ritual that is intended for anyone. This would mean that the ritual was not necessarily performed by priests, shamans, or other ritual specialists; rather, it could have been conducted by horse-owners without any relevant knowledge, who learned from the text how the ritual is to be performed. The Jianshui Jinguan strips, however, preserve only fragments of the ritual’s invocation and prayer—whether the original text carried specific instructions on how the ritual was to be conducted is unclear. As a result, it is difficult to determine whether the Jianshui Jinguan strips are parts of a “ritual primer” (like *Ci Mamei and Ma), or merely fragments of a written “script” of the ritual’s invocations and prayers.

Nonetheless, there are significant differences between the Ma and *Ci Mamei rituals, which are summarized in Table 1, and will be further discussed below.

Deities Involved in the *Ci Mamei and Ma Sacrifices

The deities involved in the *Ci Mamei and Ma sacrifices are worthy of further discussion. The Shuihudi Ma text opens with the line Xianmu Ribing Mamei heshen 先牧日丙馬禖合神,Footnote 57 in which the meaning of ribing 日丙 (day bing) is obscure. It has been suggested that day bing is the day of the First Herdsman.Footnote 58 The line should actually be read as “Unite the spirits of the First Herdsman and the Horse Intercessor of Day Bing” (先牧、日丙馬禖合神), because the invocation “I venture to ask the Horse Intercessor of Day Bing …” (敢謁日丙馬禖) in the *Ci Mamei text shows that ribing is part of the name of the Horse Intercessor.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to identify precisely how many deities are involved in the *Ci Mamei sacrifice, because there are multiple ways of parsing the long line of deity names 日丙馬禖大宗小宗馰簪褭皇神 mentioned in the invocation. The interpretation offered in my translation is that this line consists of three groups of deities, namely (1) deities of the “Great Lineage” (大宗) and “Minor Lineage” (小宗) of the Horse Intercessor,Footnote 64 (2) the Embellished Horse with a White Forehead (馰簪褭), and (3) the Illustrious Deity (皇神). On the other hand, one could argue that dazong 大宗 and xiaozong 小宗 refer to two individual deities in lieu of spirits in the lineage of the Horse Intercessor, and thus the line would contain five deities. Another possible (yet unlikely, as I will show below) reading is that the entire line constitutes the very long name of one deity.

The setup for the sacrifice as recorded in the *Ci Mamei text may shed more light on this issue. The ritual locus is comprised of three mats, one facing east, one facing south, and one facing north. A “male stone” (mushi 牡石), presumably representing the deities, is placed at the center of the east-facing mat. As suggested by the phrase “to descend and be received on the mats” (下延次席) in the *Ci Mamei invocation,Footnote 65 the mats are where the deities would settle after arriving at the site of the sacrifice. In other Qin and early Han sacrificial rituals in which mats are used, it is typical that one deity takes up one mat. For example, in a sacrifice performed to worship the First Husbandman (Xiannong 先農) recorded in a bamboo text from Zhoujiatai M30, only one mat is required.Footnote 66 In a sacrifice recorded in the *Daybook B (日書乙種) manuscript from Shuihudi M11, which is dedicated to four deities for the protection of travelers, four mats are used.Footnote 67 As three mats are needed for the *Ci Mamei sacrifice, one can surmise that three deities are involved in the ritual. I suspect that deities of the Great and Minor Lineages of the Horse Intercessor were worshipped as one deity (probably as the Horse Intercessor itself),Footnote 68 and they would take up the east-facing mat carrying the “male stone.” The Embellished Horse with a White Forehead and the Illustrious Deity would settle on the remaining two mats. Another possible arrangement is that deities of the Great Lineage would occupy the east-facing mat; those of the Minor Lineage and the third deity, whose name would be “The Illustrious Deity of the Embellished Horse with a White Forehead” (馰簪褭皇神), would take up the remaining two mats.

The deity Mei 禖 in early Chinese received literature—often referred to as the “Supreme Intercessor” (Gaomei 高禖) or “Intercessor in the Suburbs” (Jiaomei 郊禖)Footnote 69—was worshipped as a fertility spirit,Footnote 70 to which people pray in hopes of obtaining a son (qiuzi 求子).Footnote 71 One would, therefore, expect that sacrifices dedicated to the Horse Intercessor are performed for the fertility of horses and reproduction of young foals. Indeed, sexual connotations can be observed in both the Shuihudi Ma and Zhangjiashan *Ci Mamei texts. Roel Sterckx notes that the expression “to unite the spirits” (heshen 合神) in the Ma text is perhaps intended to stimulate the sexual union between horses, and the annual performance of the sacrifice also corresponds to the gestation period of horses, which Han sources calculate at 12 months.Footnote 72 Sexual connotations in the *Ci Mamei text are reflected in the mention of the “male stone” (牡石)Footnote 73 and the numerology of the number “three,” which will be discussed below.

However, requests that more young foals be born are never explicitly made in either the *Ci Mamei or Ma rituals.Footnote 74 Requests for having more children are always explicitly presented in early Chinese fertility prayers. In fertility prayers inscribed on Zhou 周 (c. eleventh century–256 bce) bronzes, for example, the requests are presented in formulaic expressions such as “[may one have] hundreds of sons and thousands of grandsons” (百子千孫) and “extensively and splendidly [may one have] limitless sons and daughters” (它它熙熙，男女無期).Footnote 75 In Han bronze mirror inscriptions, requests for obtaining children are written as auspicious phrases such as “[it is favorable] to have a son” (宜生子) and “[one’s] sons and grandsons will prosper” (子孫番昌).Footnote 76 It is possible that the horses’ fertility was considered an integral part of their well-being, yet the absence of requests for having more newborn foals in the Ma and *Ci Mamei prayers suggests that the sacrifices were not primarily about praying for the horses’ fertility; rather, they were performed so that the horses could be blessed with favorable physical health conditions.Footnote 77

Furthermore, in addition to praying for the physical well-being of horses, the second prayer in the *Ci Mamei text also asks for great fortune to be given to the officiant (予某大福),Footnote 78 who himself could be the owner of the horses. No such request is made in the Shuihudi Ma text. Perhaps in the ritual narrative of *Ci Mamei it is believed that the well-being of horses is directly associated with that of their owner, which is why the owner asks the deities to bestow fortune upon him before blessing his horses. Additionally, Roel Sterckx notes that in the Shuihudi Ma text, the Horse Intercessor is viewed as a deity whose presence extends beyond the human realm and enters that of domestic animals.Footnote 79 But the *Ci Mamei text shows a different perception of the deity as one who traverses between the worlds of human beings and horses while possessing powers that extend beyond granting fertility, given its capability of bestowing fortune and well-being upon both horses and human beings.

Significance of the Number “Three” in the *Ci Mamei Sacrifice

The significance of day bing in the sacrifice is an important yet unresolved question. Roel Sterckx highlights the hemerological importance of day bing in the Shuihudi Ma text—it is the first “fire” sign and corresponds to the transition from spring to summer,Footnote 80 which is when Sterckx surmises the ritual was performed.Footnote 81 However, there is no evidence suggesting that the *Ci Mamei sacrifice was also performed at that time.

The significance of day bing may pertain to the repeated occurrence of the number “three” in the *Ci Mamei ritual. Bing is the third Heavenly Stem (Tiangan 天干). The ritual involves three mats and three deities. The officiant is to “exclaim three times” 三噫 before chanting the invocation. As mentioned above, the repetition of the number “three” in the ritual might have a sexual connotation. The number “three” was believed to be a strong symbol of male potency,Footnote 82 and it also became associated with the yang 陽 essence and the sun in the Han.Footnote 83 Therefore, it is likely that the Horse Intercessor whose name is Bing—a Heavenly Stem associated with fire and the yang number “three”—is a male deity. The portrayal of the officiant–deity relationship in the *Ci Mamei text as one between “lords” (jun 君) and “servitors” (chen 臣), as well as the depiction of the Supreme Intercessor as having masculine traits in early Chinese received sources, also suggest that deities to which the *Ci Mamei ritual is dedicated are male.Footnote 84 If this is true, the sacrifice might have been designed under some sort of “like-attracts-like” principle—perhaps the ritual functions by exhibiting symbols of masculinity, such as the “male stone” and repetition of the yang number “three,” in order to attract male deities to descend from Heaven and arrive at the site of the sacrifice. This may also explain why the *Ci Mamei text repeatedly stresses that women are prohibited from participating in the ritual—women, carrying the yin 陰essence, would taint the strong and pure yang essence in the sacrificial locus that the ritual attempts to construct for attracting the male deities.

Officiant-Deity Relationship Depicted in the *Ci Mamei Text

As noted by Roel Sterckx, in the Shuihudi Ma ritual the officiant calls himself “Grandee” (dafu 大夫) and puts himself in a hierarchical relationship with the deities, addressing them as “Master-and-Lord” (zhujun 主君).Footnote 85 What Sterckx did not notice is that the word zhu 主 (“master; host”) in zhujun 主君 reveals a secondary relationship between the officiant and the deities—the officiant is a guest (ke 客) who is to bring food and wine to the place where the hosts (i.e., the deities) reside (dao zhujun suo 到主君所).Footnote 86 This is why the Ma text instructs the officiant to place food and wine offerings in a hole or niche in the stable wall, wherein the deities are believed to reside.Footnote 87 The Ma sacrifice, therefore, is to be performed at a specific location. In this regard, the Ma sacrifice is similar to the aforementioned ritual dedicated to the First Husbandman recorded in bamboo strips from Zhoujiatai M30, which is to be performed in a round barn (qun 囷) wherein the deity is thought to live.Footnote 88 On strip 73EJT11: 5 from Jianshui Jinguan, we can see that the deities involved in the ritual it documents are referred to as “Master-and-Lord” as well, reflecting an officiant-deity relationship similar to that of the Shuihudi Ma ritual.Footnote 89

The *Ci Mamei text depicts an officiant–deity relationship that is different from those in the Shuihudi Ma text and the Jianshui Jinguan strips. The officiant refers himself to as “servitor” (chen 臣) while addressing the deities as “lord” (jun 君). Moreover, the deities are invited to the site of the sacrifice as “great guests” (dake 大客), implying that the officiant is playing the role of the host (zhu 主).Footnote 90 Rather than receiving food and wine offerings brought to where they reside, the deities are invited to the site of the sacrifice as guests in the *Ci Mamei ritual, where a banquet of sacrificial animals and wine is prepared by the host, who is the officiant of the sacrifice. This may also be why the location of the *Ci Mamei ritual is not specified in the text. While it is possible that the ritual, like the Shuihudi Ma sacrifice, was still performed near stables or herds of horses, the *Ci Mamei text does not specifically instruct the officiant to conduct the ritual where the deities are thought to reside, because the deities would be summoned to wherever the ritual takes place.

Rhymes and Assonance in the *Ci Mamei Text

The invocation and prayers in the second section of the *Ci Mamei text are rhymed. The rhymes in the invocation are less strict and regular than the *-aŋ rhymes in the formulaic incantations that pray for the physical well-being of horses at the end of the text. The invocation contains assonance involving the main vowel *-a, comprised of words from three different traditional rhyme categories (Yu 魚 [*-a], Duo 鐸 [*-ak], and Ge 歌 [*-aj]). An unrhymed line ending with *sreŋ > sheng 牲 is inserted between lines that rhyme.

The first prayer “My lords, [please feel free to] amble at your leisure, and allow [me, your humble] servitor, to butcher and cook [the sacrificial animals]” (君且仿佯，臣請割烹) has *-aŋ rhymes. The subsequent lines “Then, kill a pig, cook [its meat] until done, and make another offering [with it]” (因殺豚，炊熟，復進) and “Pray, following the previous [prayer], saying” (祝如前⽈), separating the first and second prayers, are unrhymed. The second prayer begins with incantations that have *-uk (traditional Jue 覺) and *-ək (traditional Zhi 職) rhymes.Footnote 91 Following an unrhymed line that ends with *tsʰiw > qiu 秋, the prayer returns to using the *-aŋ rhyme in its formulaic incantations at the end.

The use of rhymes in the *Ci Mamei invocation and prayers is similar to that in early Chinese daybook manuscripts. For instance, not all rhymes in the *Ci Mamei invocation and prayers are pure end-rhymes—some feature assonance of the same main vowel (e.g., *-a, *-aŋ, and *-ak).Footnote 92 Furthermore, *-aŋ constitutes the main rhyme in the *Ci Mamei text,Footnote 93 its significance highlighted by its repeated occurrence in each and every of the formulaic incantations “Give [my horses] no infirmities of X, and let … Y” (勿/毋予X疾，令 … Y)Footnote 94 at the end of the text. As Rens Krijgsman has shown, using the *-aŋ rhyme is a linguistic feature commonly observed in early Chinese daybook manuscripts. The Ma text in *Daybook A from Shuihudi M11, for example, has *-aŋ as the main rhyme in its prayer as well.Footnote 95

Rhyme changes in the *Ci Mamei prayers indicate different phases of the sacrifice.Footnote 96 The invocation uses a different set of rhymes (*-a, *-ak, and *-aj) from the prayers. The introduction of the *-aŋ rhyme in the first prayer signals the end of the invocation and the beginning of the “praying” (zhu 祝) phase of the ritual. The use of two new rhymes *-uk and *-ək denotes the beginning of the second prayer and differentiates it from the first prayer. Additionally, the rhyme change from *-uk and *-ək to *-aŋ in the second prayer indicates that the ritual has entered its final phase, during which the officiant would recite the formulaic incantations. This rhyme change also mirrors the change in the subject of the prayer from the officiant himself (“Give me, so-and-so, great fortune” [予某大福]) to the horses.

Rhyme patterns in the *Ci Mamei invocation and prayers could be a mnemonic device that allowed easier memorization of the invocation and prayers, which in turn would have helped performers of the ritual to recite them during the ritual without referring to the manuscript.Footnote 97 Given that the rhyme changes correspond to the sacrificial process, it is also possible that they were crafted so as to provide an immersive experience of the ritual to readers of the text, which would allow one to experience different phases of the ritual simply by reading the invocation and prayers aloud.Footnote 98

Generic and Formulaic Language of the *Ci Mamei Text

Table 1.

Differences between the *Ci Mamei and Ma sacrifices

The presence of the placeholder mou 某 in the *Ci Mamei invocation and prayers suggests that they were not written specifically for the manuscript; rather, they are generic templates of prayers used in similar sacrifices. Mou is to be replaced with the officiant’s name during the actual performance of the ritual.Footnote 99

Another notable characteristic of the *Ci Mamei prayers is the usage of the formulaic expression “[My lords, please] eat and drink with gusto, and give me, so-and-so, great fortune” (強飲強食，予某大福). Parallels of the expression are found in prayers recorded in early Chinese excavated daybook manuscripts and received literature (Table 2).

Table 2.

Parallels of the formulaic expression (強飲強食，予某大福) in early Chinese daybook manuscripts and received literature

All of the above expressions consist of two phrases—the first phrase encourages deities of sacrifices (in *Ci Mamei and Shuihudi daybooks) or territorial lords participating in the archery ritual (sheli 射禮) (in Zhouli and Da Dai liji) to feast on food and wine offerings, while the second phrase is a request for blessing.Footnote 106 The formulaic nature of these expressions and their occurrence in various excavated and transmitted sources bespeak the sharing of ritualistic rhetoric in early Chinese prayers.Footnote 107 The expressions themselves, however, are by no means fixed. They are flexible in terms of meter and wording and can be realized as tetrasyllabic phrases in *Ci Mamei and the Meng prayer in Shuihudi *Daybook A, trisyllabic phrases in the *Ci prayer in Shuihudi *Daybook B, or as longer lines in Zhouli and Da Dai liji. Moreover, the phrases can be separated and used on their own—the closing lines of the Shuihudi Ma text “My Masters-and-Lords, [we] urge [you] to drink and eat [the sacrificial offerings]; I dare not forget [your grace] every year” (主君勉飲勉食，吾歲不敢忘) retain only the first phrase, while the second phrase is changed from a request for the deities’ blessing to a promise that the deities’ grace would always be remembered.

The sharing of ritualistic rhetoric among *Ci Mamei, Ma, and the Jianshui Jinguan fragments is also reflected in their incantations that request deities to bless horses with good health. Table 3 lists prayers recorded in the Ma text and Jianshui Jinguan fragments alongside a similar passage in Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術 compiled by Jia Sixie 賈思勰 (fl. 540).

Table 3.

Formulaic passages in Ma and Qimin yaoshu

It must first be clarified that the *Ci Mamei and Ma texts are of a different genus from the Qimin yaoshu passage. The *Ci Mamei and Ma texts are ritual primers recording instructions on the performance of sacrificial rituals, and their passages describing different body parts of horses are from incantations of the rituals—this is also the case for the Jianshui Jinguan fragments. By contrast, the Qimin yaoshu passage is about horse physiognomy (xiangma 相馬), which intends to provide information for evaluating the intrinsic health and quality of horses on the basis of their physical characteristics.Footnote 108

Nevertheless, in terms of language, the *Ci Mamei, Ma, and Jianshui Jinguan incantations share a considerable number of similarities with the Qimin yaoshu excerpt, discussed as follows:

  1. (1) The incantations recorded in *Ci Mamei, Ma, and the Jianshui Jinguan fragments, as well as the Qimin yaoshu passage, all comprise a series of expressions that are presented in fixed formulas, listed in the Table 4. “X” represents a body part of horses, while “Y” is a rhyme word with the main vowel *-a.

Also note that the *Ci Mamei and Jianshui Jinguan incantations are presented in the same formula “Give [my horses] no infirmities of X, and let … Y” (毋予X疾，令 … Y), whereas those in the Ma text observe a different formula “[Let] the X [of my horses] be able to/be … Y” ((令)(其)X能/為 … Y). This difference might be indicative of the different contexts in which the incantations were composed. The formula of the *Ci Mamei and Jianshui Jinguan incantations, containing the prayer “Give [my horses] no infirmities of X,” shows an ardent wish to defend one’s horses against various illnesses, which suggests that the incantations could have been formulated under pressing circumstances wherein horses were actually plagued by such illnesses.Footnote 114 On the other hand, the formula of the Ma incantations indicates no urge to free one’s horses from illness, but a simple wish for the horses to be physically healthy.

Table 4.

Format of formulaic expressions in *Ci Mamei, Ma, and Qimin yaoshu

In the context of the *Ci Mamei, Ma, and Jianshui Jinguan sacrifices, the repetitive and formulaic nature of the incantations would have allowed performers of the sacrifices to memorize them more easily. The incantatory rhythm of the prayers is also reinforced, which could have been believed to enhance the prayers’ power and efficacy.Footnote 115

  1. (2) The *Ci Mamei, Ma, and Jianshui Jinguan incantations, as well as the Qimin yaoshu passage, all feature the use of the *-aŋ rhyme. The *-aŋ rhyme is commonly used in early Chinese daybooks and other divinatory texts to denote the auspiciousness (or inauspiciousness) of actions and outcomes of divination.Footnote 116 Consequently, having become an integral part of hemerological and divinatory rhetoric, the rhymes themselves might have been believed to be endowed with apotropaic properties as well.

  2. (3) The *Ci Mamei, Ma, and Jianshui Jinguan incantations share a number of highly similar descriptions of the physical traits of horses. For example, incantations of all three rituals pray that the spine (ji 脊) of horses be strong (gang 剛/qiang 強); the *Ci Mamei and Ma incantations also pray that their stomach (fu 腹) become a pouch for the hundred grasses (baicao nang 百草囊), their tail (wei 尾) be good at repelling horseflies (qumeng 驅䖟), and their legs (zu 足) be good at walking (xing 行). Some of the physical traits, such as having a strong spine and extensive (zhang 張) ribs (xie 脅), are also mentioned in the Qimin yaoshu passage. These textual parallels indicate the existence of a repertoire of rhymed “stock expressions” (taoyu 套語) for describing physical traits of horses since the Warring States, which was shared not only among divinatory texts such as *Ci Mamei, Ma, and the Jianshui Jinguan fragments, but also among technical (shushu 數術; “calculations and procedures”) texts on horse physiognomy.Footnote 119

It should be noted that texts could freely choose from such a repertoire which expressions to use, and the exact wording of the expressions was in flux. For instance, incantations for the horses’ nose, ears, eyes, and ribs are present in Ma yet absent in *Ci Mamei; moreover, the *Ci Mamei incantations pray that the horses’ neck become good at upholding the yoke and crossbar (毋予頸疾，令善持軛衡),Footnote 120 whereas the Ma incantations pray that the horses’ head would become the crossbar of their bodies (令頭為身衡).Footnote 121 There is also an incantation for the horses’ skin and fur (pimao 皮毛) in the Jianshui Jinguan fragments (strip 73EJT11: 23),Footnote 123 which is absent in both Ma and *Ci Mamei. As mentioned above, it is likely that incantations recorded in *Ci Mamei and the Jianshui Jinguan fragments were used in medically urgent situations wherein horses were actually suffering from various illnesses—perhaps the incantations in the two sources concern different body parts, because the actual illnesses plaguing the horses were also different.

Conclusion: The *Ci Mamei Manuscript in the Context of M336

The *Ci Mamei manuscript offers insights into ritual practices associated with animal deities, sacrificial rituals performed for the benefit of animals, as well as the textual and linguistic characteristics of ritual manuals in early China. It documents a sacrificial ritual practiced in the Jiangling 江陵 region of the Western Han empire, which was performed to the Horse Intercessor and two other deities for the well-being of horses and their owners, recording information about the ritual’s setup, paraphernalia, procedures, and taboos.

In this article, I have offered a preliminary study of the manuscript’s codicological features, content, and use of rhymes, as well as its generic and formulaic language. I have shown that the *Ci Mamei sacrifice was not specifically about praying for the fertility of horses; rather, its main purpose was to pray for their overall physical health. I have also discussed the differences in the depiction of the Horse Intercessor and the officiant–deity relationship between *Ci Mamei and the Ma text in *Daybook A from Shuihudi M11. In addition, I have illustrated the sharing of ritualistic rhetoric among prayers in the *Ci Mamei text and those in other early Chinese excavated and transmitted sources, while also noting the possible existence of a common repertoire of rhymed stock expressions about physical traits of horses, which was referenced in early Chinese divinatory and technical texts.

Furthermore, the *Ci Mamei manuscript may shed light on the funerary tradition of entombing texts in early China.Footnote 124 Containing prayers and incantations of a sacrificial ritual that request the blessing of deities, the manuscript could have been believed to carry talismanic properties. The exhortation “give me, so-and-so, great fortune” (予某大福), together with the use of repetition and rhymes that was believed to bolster the efficacy of the incantations, might have been considered apotropaic. The manuscript’s context could have been seen as having extended beyond the ritual setting of the sacrifice and merged with the funerary context of the tomb. Therefore, it is possible that the manuscript was buried in M336 as a talisman so as to ward off evil influences and bless the deceased in his afterlife.Footnote 125

Figure 2.

Wooden horse figurine from M336Footnote 122.

There are still many questions about the *Ci Mamei text that require further investigation. For example, little is known about the exact identity of deities listed in the text, especially the Embellished Horse with a White Forehead and the Illustrious Deity. One could also argue that in comparison with the Ma ritual, the *Ci Mamei sacrifice appears to be more intricate, as it involves worshipping deities that seem to have developed a familial lineage (i.e., deities of the “Great” and “Minor” lineages of the Horse Intercessor), in addition to having more detailed instructions and taboos. However, at this moment we do not know whether these differences represent territorial variations of the same ritual or the evolution of a simpler ritual to a more complex one over time. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the tomb inventory list for M336 records the burial of two male liu (crimson) horses (駵牡馬二匹) and two male li (black) horses (驪牡馬二匹). The words liu 駵 and li 驪 are also seen in the *Ci Mamei text,Footnote 126 and four wooden horse figurines were found in M336 (Figure 2),Footnote 127 matching the number of horses recorded on the inventory list. It does not seem to be coincidental that liu 駵 and li 驪 are mentioned in both the *Ci Mamei manuscript and the tomb inventory list, nor does it seem accidental that wooden horse figurines were buried alongside the *Ci Mamei manuscript, which records a sacrifice performed for horses. These observations are perhaps indicative of patterns behind M336’s mortuary program, the details of which await further study.

Footnotes

Oscar Qiu Jun Zheng, 鄭楸鋆, University of Pennsylvania, USA; email: qjzheng@sas.upenn.edu.

I am indebted to Paul Goldin, Nancy Steinhardt, Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Trenton Wilson, Matthias Richter, Adam Smith, Jesse Chapman, Zhao Lu 趙璐, Peter Tsung Kei Wong 王棕琦, Ho Kwok Shing 何國誠, Chan Wai 陳偉, Zeng Xiuwei 曾綉薇, and the anonymous reviewers of Early China for their valuable and insightful comments on previous drafts of this article. All errors remain my own.

References

1 This article uses an asterisk (*) to indicate titles of excavated texts that are not seen on the texts themselves but are coined by modern scholars, following the convention mentioned in Matthias L. Richter, The Embodied Text: Establishing Textual Identity in Early Chinese Manuscripts (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 12–13.

2 Translations of classical Chinese in this paper are my own unless otherwise specified. Mamei 馬禖 has been translated as “Horse Progenitor” (see Roel Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” Early China 21 [1996], 54, 58–59) and “Horse Begetter” (see Roel Sterckx, The Animal and the Daemon in Early China [Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002], 62). These translations foreground the nature of mei 禖 as a deity of fertility. However, Mamei as depicted in both *Ci Mamei and the Ma 馬 text from Shuihudi 睡虎地 M11 is not only capable of promoting the reproduction of young foals; it is also a tutelary deity overseeing the health, longevity, and general well-being of horses, and even those of the ritual’s officiant. In light of this and the fact that mei 禖 and mei 媒 (“medium; matchmaker”) are cognates, mei 禖 is translated as “intercessor” in this article. Derk Bodde (1909–2003) has offered a similar translation of mei 禖 as “intermediary,” in Derk Bodde, Festivals in Classical China: New Year and Other Annual Observances During the Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.–A.D. 220 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975), 243–61.

3 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan 荊州地區博物館, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan liangzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian” 江陵張家山兩座漢墓出土大批竹簡, Wenwu 1992.9, 1–11.

4 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan liangzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian,” 4. On how bamboo and silk manuscripts are stored in early Chinese tombs, see Wang Guihai 汪桂海, “Kaogu ziliao suojian jianbo shidai shuji zhuangju” 考古資料所見簡帛時代書籍裝具, Wenxian 文獻 1 (2021), 166–89.

5 Jingzhou bowuguan 荊州博物館, “Hubei Jiangling Zhangjiashan M336 chutu Xi Han zhujian gaishu” 湖北江陵張家山 M336 出土西漢竹簡概述, Wenwu 2022.9, 68.

6 For plates and transcriptions of bamboo manuscripts from M247, see Zhangjiashan er si qi hao Han mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu 張家山二四七號漢墓竹簡整理小組, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (er si qi hao mu) 張家山漢墓竹簡 (二四七號墓) (Beijing: Wenwu, 2001). For a revised transcription, see Zhangjiashan er si qi hao Han mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (er si qi hao mu) shiwen xiuding ben 張家山漢墓竹簡 (二四七號墓) 釋文修訂本 (Beijing: Wenwu, 2006). For an annotated English translation of the legal texts from M247, see Anthony J. Barbieri-Low and Robin D. S. Yates, Law, State, and Society in Early Imperial China: A Study with Critical Edition and Translation of the Legal Texts from Zhangjiashan Tomb No. 247 (Leiden: Brill, 2015). For a study of scribal hands in the mathematical primer Suan shu shu 筭數書, see Daniel Patrick Morgan and Karine Chemla, “Writing in Turns: An Analysis of Scribal Hands in the Bamboo Manuscript Suan shu shu 筭數書 (Writings on Mathematical Procedures) from Zhangjiashan Tomb No. 247,” Bamboo and Silk 1 (2018), 152–90.

7 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan sanzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian” 江陵張家山三座漢墓出土大批竹簡, Wenwu 1985.1, 7–8.

8 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu) 張家山漢墓竹簡 (三三六號墓)(Beijing: Wenwu, 2022), 219. On bamboo manuscripts of similar calendars, see He Jin 何晉, “Qin jian zhiri xiaoshi” 秦簡質日小識, Chutu wenxian yanjiu 出土文獻研究 14 (2015), 190–201.

9 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan liangzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian,” 10.

10 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan liangzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian,” 11. Fifth Grandee (Wu dafu 五大夫) ranks ninth on the Han bureaucratic ranking scale. This rank (and those above it) could not have been possessed by commoners or officials below the 600-bushel (shi 石) paygrade. See Barbieri-Low and Yates, Law, State, and Society in Early Imperial China, 690.

11 For an annotated normalization and black-and-white plates of the Ma strips, see, respectively, Chen Wei 陳偉, ed., Qin jiandu heji 秦簡牘合集, vol. 1 (Wuhan: Wuhan daxue, 2014), 507–12, 820–21. There has been debate over what the title of the text is; see Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 508–9. I follow Guo Yongbing 郭永秉 and Roel Sterckx, who identify the text’s title as Ma 馬. See Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 49.

12 The M11 tomb is dated to 217 bce, the year when the tomb occupant Xi 喜 died. See Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu bianxiezu 雲夢睡虎地秦墓編寫組 ed., Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu 雲夢睡虎地秦墓 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1981), 68.

13 For a discussion of the strips and a normalization of their graphs, see Liu Jiao 劉嬌, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha” 讀肩水金關漢簡「馬禖祝辭」小札, in Tanxun Zhonghua wenhua de jiyin 探尋中華文化的基因, ed. Fudan daxue chutu wenxian yu gu wenzi yanjiu zhongxin 復旦大學出土文獻與古文字研究中心, vol. 1 (Beijing: Shangwu, 2017), 392–97. For the excavation report of the Jianshui Jinguan site, see Gansu Juyan kaogudui 甘肅居延考古隊, “Juyan Han dai yizhi de fajue he xin chutu de jiance wenwu” 居延漢代遺址的發掘和新出土的簡冊文物, Wenwu 1978.1, 1–25.

14 On the various kinds of transcriptions of early Chinese manuscripts, see Xing Wen 邢文, “Towards a Transparent Transcription,” Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatique 59.1 (2005), 31–60. The “normalized” transcription used in this article is equivalent to the “interpretive” transcription discussed in Xing Wen’s article.

15 On “main” and “secondary rhymes” in early Chinese daybook manuscripts, see Rens Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages in the Daybook Manuscripts,” Bamboo and Silk 4 (2021), 294–95.

16 The expression “[number]-餟” is commonly attested in Qin and Han daybooks and ritual manuals. The number preceding the word zhui 餟 is conventionally understood as the number of times that food offerings were to be made. See Jao Tsung-i 饒宗頤 and Zeng Xiantong 曾憲通, Yunmeng Qin jian rishu yanjiu 雲夢秦簡日書研究 (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982), 43.

17 The “male stone” 牡石 is presumably an altar for deities involved in the ritual. As I will show below, it also symbolizes the deities’ masculinity. The “Qisu” 齊俗 chapter in Huainanzi 淮南子 records that “In the rituals of the Yin people, the altars are made of stone” 殷人之禮，其社用石, in D. C. Lau 劉殿爵, Huainanzi yundu ji jiaokan 淮南子韻讀及校勘 (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2013), 11.400. See also the fragment “[An altar made of?] earth is [placed in] the center; [it is] seen as the Horse Intercessor” 中土以為馬禖 of the Shuihudi Ma text, in Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

18 This line is ambiguous as it could mean (1) the “male stone” is to be placed at the center of the east-facing mat, or (2) the “male stone” is to be placed at the central space surrounded by the three mats. I have chosen the first reading because the line immediately follows the description “One of the mats faces east” 其一席東向. For the second reading, see Song Huaqiang 宋華強, “Zhangjiashan Han jian Ci Mamei zhaji” 張家山漢簡⟪祠馬禖⟫札記, published on the website of the Center of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts, Wuhan University武漢大學簡帛研究中心, May 15, 2023, www.bsm.org.cn/?hanjian/9015.html, accessed on June 11, 2023.

19 The graph interpreted here as *[p.qʰ]ˤraŋ > peng 烹 (“to cook”) is written as *qʰˤraŋ > heng 亨 in the manuscript, normalized by the editors as *[qʰ]aŋʔ > xiang 享 (“to offer”).

20 Following Wang Yong’s 王勇 interpretation of yu 餘 as “leftover sacrificial meat.” Moreover, while the line’s literal meaning is that leftover bones are not to be given to women and dogs, in practice its meaning could be “Do not give the leftover meat to women, nor the bones to dogs,” as suggested by Wang. See Wang Yong, “Zhangjiashan Han jian Ci Mamei duandu er li” 張家山漢簡⟪祠馬禖⟫斷讀二例, published on the website of the Center of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts, Wuhan University, May 23, 2023, www.bsm.org.cn/?hanjian/9030.html, accessed on June 11, 2023.

21 *ʔ(r)ək > yi 噫 is written as *ʔ(r)ək-s > yi 意 in the manuscript, normalized also as yi 意 by the editors. I follow Song Huaqiang’s reading of yi 意as yi 噫, meaning “to exclaim.” See Song, “Zhangjiashan Han jian Ci Mamei zhaji.”

22 *C.mˤə > mei 禖 is erroneously written as the graphically similar *[g](r)ə > qi 祺 in the manuscript. I follow the editors’ reading of Ribing mamei 日丙馬禖 as the name of one deity. See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), vol. 1, 158. The name is also featured in the Shuihudi Ma text. See Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507. Roel Sterckx notes the possibility that Ribing (lit. “day bing”) denotes the day when the sacrifice is to be performed. See Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 55.

23 Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 defines di 馰 as “a horse with a white forehead” 馬白頟也. See Wang Ping 王平 and Li Jianting 李建廷 eds., Shuowen jiezi (biaodian zhengli ben) 說文解字 (標點整理本) (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 2016), 10.251. Zanniao 簪褭, as recorded in the Han shu 漢書, is the title of the third rank of nobility (jue 爵) in the Han empire. Yan Shigu 顏師古 (581–645) read the term as to embellish (shi 飾) a horse that is on a rein (dai 帶) of ribbon (zu 組). See Han shu (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1962), 19a.739–40. According to the editors, Zanniao here refers to ornaments worn by horses. See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158. However, given that the term is listed among deities for which the sacrifice is performed, it seems more likely to be the name of a deity as well.

24 Huang 皇 is often added to the honorific names of ancestors or deities in early Chinese texts. The editors note that Huangshen 皇神 refers to “a deity of Heaven” 天神. See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158. Here I note the possibility that Huangshen could be a precursor of Mashi huang 馬師皇 (“Illustrious Sovereign of Horses”) recorded in Liexian zhuan 列仙傳, in which Mashi huang is listed as a horse veterinarian (mayi 馬醫) who lived at the same time as the mythical Yellow Thearch (黃帝). See Wang Shumin 王叔岷, Liexian zhuan jiaojian 列仙傳校箋 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2007), 6.

25 The expression cixi 次席 is also featured in the Shuihudi Ma text. Scholars have proposed various readings of the phrase, summarized in Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 510. Guo Yongbing notes that the phrase is seen in Zhouli 周禮, which is listed as one of the Five Mats (Wuxi 五席) possessed by the Office of Desks and Mats (Si jiyan 司几筵). See Zhouli zhushu 周禮注疏 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2000), 20.617. Here, however, I follow the editors’ reading of ci 次 as a verb, meaning “to settle into/rest on (the mats).” See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158. For a similar reading of ci, see also Tian Tian 田天, “Beida cang Qin jian Cizhu zhi dao chutan” 北大藏秦簡⟪祠祝之道⟫初探, Beijing daxue xuebao (zhexue shehui kexue ban) 北京大學學報 (哲學社會科學版) 52.2 (2015), 39.

27 Mie 搣 is normalized as mie 滅 by the editors, meaning “to completely remove.” See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158. I read the graph as written, meaning “to pluck.” Yan Shigu defines mie 搣 as “to pluck” (ba 拔) in his Jijiu pian 急就篇 commentary. See Zhang Chuanguan 張傳官, Jijiu pian jiaoli 急就篇校理 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2017), 3.249–50.

26 For examples of cross-rhyming between the rhyme categories Yu 魚 (*-a) and Ge 歌 (*-aj) in Old Chinese, see Chen Shin-shiung 陳新雄, Guyin yanjiu 古音研究 (Taipei: Wunan, 1999), 453.

28 The editors consider wu 毋 superfluous (yanwen 衍文) because the line with wu 毋 would mean “not to grant horses longevity,” which defies the purpose of the entire sacrifice (i.e., to pray for the well-being of horses). See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158. It is possible that the scribe, in anticipation of a series of wuyu 毋予 expressions coming up, wrote wu 毋 one line too early.

29 The graph is originally transcribed as and normalized as ti 騠 by the editors, which means “good horses” 良馬 (as in jueti 駃騠). However, given that the previous horse-related words all denote horses of specific coat colors, I suspect might not be a generic term that means “good horses.” The graph could in fact be gui 騩, which refers to horses with gray coat. See the Shuowen jiezi gloss “Gui refers to horses that are light black (i.e., gray)” 騩，馬淺黑色, in Wang and Li eds., Shuowen jiezi (biaodian zhengli ben), 10.250.

30 For more detailed definitions of words that denote horses of different colors, see Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158.

31 Nang 囊 is transcribed by the editors as tuo 橐 (*-ak 鐸). Given the high degree of graphic similarity between tuo 橐 and nang 囊, the graph could also be transcribed as nang 囊.

32 There are ample examples of cross-rhyming between the rhyme categories Jue 覺 (*-uk) and Zhi 職 (*-ək) in Old Chinese. See William H. Baxter, A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter), 523; Chen, Guyin yanjiu, 465–66.

33 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158.

34 The average lengths of strips of other manuscripts interred in M336 are 29.8–30 cm (Gongling 功令), 26.2 cm (*Chegu shiqi 徹谷食氣), 29.9–30 cm (Dao Zhi 盜跖), 29.9 cm (*Han lü shiliu zhang 漢律十六章), 37.2 cm (Qinian zhiri 七年質日), and 24–25 cm (the inventory list). See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 95, 129, 143, 161, 219, and 225.

35 Unlike the Ma text, which is part of the *Daybook A 日書甲種 manuscript from Shuihudi M11.

36 In this paper, “scribe” is used to refer to the person who used a brush to put ink on bamboo strips. The “scribe” of the *Ci Mamei manuscript is not to be confused with the “author” of the *Ci Mamei text. The author is the person who originally composed the text, whereas the “scribe” is the person who wrote the graphs in the manuscript. On the distinction between “authors” and “scribes” of early Chinese texts, see Cheng Sudong 程蘇東, “Xiechaoben shidai yizhixing wenben de faxian yu yanjiu” 寫鈔本時代異質性文本的發現與研究, in Zhongguo gudian wenxian de yuedu yu lijie—Zhong Mei xuezhe “Hongmen duihua” ji 中國古典文獻的閱讀與理解——中美學者「黌門對話」集, ed. Fu Gang 傅剛 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2017), 173–90.

37 Zhang Xiancheng 張顯成, Jianbo wenxian xue tonglun 簡帛文獻學通論 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2004), 123; Tsien Tsuen-hsuin 錢存訓, Shu yu zhubo—Zhongguo gudai de wenzi jilu 書於竹帛—中國古代的文字記錄 (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 2004), 88.

38 Silk manuscripts from Mawangdui 馬王堆 M3 written in the early clerical script include *Laozi A老子甲本, *Wuxing 五行, *Chunqiu shi yu 春秋事語, *Zhanguo zongheng jia shu 戰國縱橫家書, *Xingde A 刑德甲本, and *Yinyang wuxing B 陰陽五行乙本. See Chen Songchang 陳松長, Mawangdui boshu yishu 馬王堆帛書藝術 (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1996), 63–156. On bamboo manuscripts from Fuyang 阜陽 M1, see Fuyang Han jian zhengli zu 阜陽漢簡整理組, “Fuyang Han jian jianjie” 阜陽漢簡簡介, Wenwu 1983.2, 21–23. For plates and transcriptions of bamboo manuscripts from Yinqueshan 銀雀山 M1, see Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu 銀雀山漢墓竹簡整理小組, ed., Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian 銀雀山漢墓竹簡, vol. 1 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1985).

39 Qi Chongtian 齊沖天, Shufa wenzi xue 書法文字學 (Beijing: Beijing yuyan wenhua daxue, 1997), 121–27; Hong Young-hee 洪映熙, “Cong Juyan Han jian kan Han dai lishu de xingcheng” 從居延漢簡看漢代隸書的形成, Wenzi xue luncong 文字學論叢 2 (2003), 164. Matthias L. Richter notes that these elongated strokes could have served as potential “distinguishers” in certain Han manuscripts that ascribe emphasis to specific words. See Matthias L. Richter, “Towards a Broad Concept of Punctuation,” Bamboo and Silk 6 (2023), 181.

40 The following abbreviations are used in figure 1: “ZJS” for “Zhangjiashan”; “SHD” for “Shuihudi”; “ZJT” for “Zhoujiatai”; “*CMM” for “*Ci Mamei”; “EN” for “Ernian lüling” 二年律令; “ZYS” for “Zouyan shu” 奏讞書; “*SZ” for “*Sunzi bingfa” 孫子兵法; “*RS” for “*Rishu” 日書; “*WL” for “*Weili zhi dao” 為吏之道; “*BF” for “*Bingfang ji qita” 病方及其他. “Tablet” refers to the wooden tablet (mudu 木牘) from Shuihudi M11. Numbers following manuscript titles are strip numbers; “v” stands for “verso.” On Zhoujiatai周家臺 M30, see Hubei sheng Jingzhou shi Zhou Liang Yu Qiao yizhi bowuguan 湖北省荊州市周梁玉橋遺址博物館 ed., Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu 關沮秦漢墓簡牘 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2001), 145–60.

41 On punctuation and marks in early Chinese manuscripts, see Zhang, Jianbo wenxian xue tonglun, 179–214; Matthias L. Richter, “Punctuation, Premodern,” in Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics, ed. Rint Sybesma (Leiden: Brill, 2015); Cheng Pengwan 程鵬萬, Jiandu boshu geshi yanjiu 簡牘帛書格式研究 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2017), 178–230; Xiao Yunxiao 肖芸曉, “Shilun Qinghua jian shushou de zhi yu neng” 試論清華簡書手的職與能, Jianbo 簡帛 25 (2022), 67–85; Rens Krijgsman, “Punctuation and Text Division in Two Early Narratives: The Tsinghua University *Jin Wen Gong ru yu Jin 晉文公入於晉 and Zi Fan Zi Yu 子犯子餘 Manuscripts,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 143.1 (2023), 109–24; Richter, “Towards a Broad Concept of Punctuation,” 159–85.

42 Richter, “Punctuation, Premodern.”

43 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 157.

44 Qi 祈 (“invocation”) and zhu 祝 (“prayer”) are considered synonymous in Gao You’s 高誘 (fl. 160–220) Zhanguo ce 戰國策 commentary. See Fan Xiangyong 范祥雍, Zhanguo ce jianzheng 戰國策箋證 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2006), 9.563. However, qi and zhu served different purposes in the *Ci Mamei ritual—qi is an “invocation” that summons deities to the site of the sacrifice, whereas zhu refers to “prayers” asking for the deities’ blessings. Concerning the word qi, Zheng Xuan’s 鄭玄 (127–200) Zhouli commentary notes that “Qi is a call; [it] refers to [the process] in which [one] exclaims and calls out to deities to ask for blessings in times of disasters” 祈，嘄也；謂為有災變，號呼告於神以求福; Guo Pu’s 郭璞 (276–324) Erya 爾雅 commentary notes that “Qi is when the officiant of a sacrifice calls out to [deities] and enquires about [various] affairs” 祈，祭者叫呼而請事. See Zhouli zhushu, 25.775; Erya zhushu 爾雅注疏 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2000), 3.91. On the other hand, zhu is defined as “words asking for good fortune” 祈福祥之辭 in Gao You’s Huainanzi commentary, and as “words of praise [spoken by] the master of a sacrifice” 祭主贊詞 in Shuowen jiezi. See He Ning 何寧, Huainanzi jishi 淮南子集釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1998), 16.1143; Wang and Li eds., Shuowen jiezi (biaodian zhengli ben), 1.3. Qi and zhu in the *Ci Mamei ritual have functions similar to those listed in the aforementioned commentaries and glosses. For a discussion of the meanings of qi and zhu in early and medieval sources, as well as their semantic connections with words such as dao 禱, ci 祠, zu 詛, and gao 吿, see Fan Wenlan 范文瀾, Fan Wenlan quanji 范文瀾全集, vol. 4: Wenxin diaolong zhu (shang) 文心雕龍注 (上) (Shijiazhuang: Hebei jiaoyu, 2002), 2.159–60.

45 The Shuihudi *Daybook A manuscript consists of 166 strips written front and back. One is to read the recto of strips 1–166 first, then flip the entire manuscript and read its verso, from the back of strip 166 to strip 7 (the backs of strips 1–6 are uninscribed). The Ma text is inscribed on the back of strips 11–7. For a full English translation of the Ma text with annotations, see Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 50–54. For a full French translation, see Yu Xin 余欣, “Étude sur la physiognomonie du cheval sous les dynasties des Han et des Tang (IIIe siècle av. è. c.–Xe siècle) à partir de documents archéologiques,” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 25 (2016), 274.

46 The graph before ru 乳 (“milk”), presumably a modifier of ru 乳 that specifies which kind of milk was to be offered, is severely damaged and thus illegible.

47 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 393. Yao Lei’s 姚磊 more updated transcription of the graphs on this strip shows the graph shang 上 before fang 方. See Yao Lei, Jianshui Jinguan Han jian shiwen hejiao 肩水金關漢簡釋文合校 (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue, 2021), 170–71.

48 I follow Liu Jiao’s 劉嬌 interpretation of the graph as “to reach” 盡. See Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 394.

49 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 393.

50 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 396.

51 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 396. For colored plates of these strips, see, respectively, Gansu jiandu baohu yanjiu zhongxin 甘肅簡牘保護研究中心 et al., ed., Jianshui jinguan Han jian (er) 肩水金關漢簡 (貳), vol. 1 (Shanghai: Zhongxi, 2012), 2, 4; Gansu jiandu baohu yanjiu zhongxin et al., ed., Jianshui jinguan Han jian (san) 肩水金關漢簡 (叁), vol. 1 (Shanghai: Zhongxi, 2013), 38, 86.

52 The strips were found in different test pits (tanfang 探方) at the Jianshui Jinguan site, the test pit numbers being marked by “T” in the strip numbers. But this does not necessarily mean that the strips do not belong to the same manuscript or text. Liang Jing 梁靜 has noted that there are strips found in different test pits at the Jianshui Jinguan site that are parts of the same text written by the same scribe. See Liang Jing, “Chutu Qi Lunyu yu Han dai Lunyu banben de hebing” 出土⟪齊論語⟫與漢代⟪論語⟫版本的合併, in Guji xinquan—Xian Qin Liang Han wenxian lunji 古籍新詮—先秦兩漢⽂獻論集, ed. Ho Che Wah 何志華 et al. (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2020), 311–12.

53 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

54 On the content of these strips, see also Wang Zijin 王子今, “Hexi Han jian suojian ‘Mamei zhu’ lisu yu ‘Mayi’ ‘Maxiazu’ zhiren” 河西漢簡所見「馬禖祝」禮俗與「馬醫」「馬下卒」職任, Qin Han yanjiu 秦漢研究 8 (2014), 9–17. For colored plates of these strips, see, respectively, Gansu jiandu baohu yanjiu zhongxin 甘肅簡牘保護研究中心 et al., ed., Jianshui jinguan Han jian (er) 肩水金關漢簡 (貳), vol. 1 (Shanghai: Zhongxi, 2012), 2, 4; Gansu jiandu baohu yanjiu zhongxin et al., ed., Jianshui jinguan Han jian (san) 肩水金關漢簡 (叁), vol. 1 (Shanghai: Zhongxi, 2013), 38, 86.

55 The Shuihudi Ma text records that “fattened pigs,” “clear wine,” and “beautifully (grown) white millet” are to be offered during the sacrifice. See Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

56 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 56.

57 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

58 Wu Xiaoqiang 吳小強, Qin jian rishu jishi 秦簡日書集釋 (Changsha: Yuelu, 2000), 176.

64 The exact meaning of “Great Lineage” 大宗 and “Minor Lineage” 小宗 is unclear. The editors opine that they refer to deities that belong to the legitimate lineage (dixi 嫡系) and illegitimate branches (shuzhi 庶支) of the Horse Intercessor. See Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 158.

65 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 157.

66 Chen Wei, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3 (Wuhan: Wuhan daxue, 2014), 67.

67 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 545–46.

68 The allocation of mats I have proposed here may also explain why a road ritual recorded in the Peking University 北京大學 Qin bamboo manuscript *Cizhu zhi dao 祠祝之道 that seems to involve five deities (“The Great Master of Blessed Journeys” [大尚行主], “The Minor Master of Blessed Journeys” [少尚行主], and the “Three Earthly Sovereigns” [三土皇]) uses only four mats—like the Great and Minor Lineages of the Horse Intercessor in the *Ci Mamei ritual, the Great and Minor Masters of Blessed Journeys were perhaps worshipped as one deity. See Beijing daxue chutu wenxian yu gudai wenming yanjiusuo 北京大學出土文獻與古代文明研究所, ed., Beijing daxue cang Qin jiandu (er) 北京大學藏秦簡牘 (貳) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2023), 303.

69 *Cә.[k]ˤaw > gao 高 and *[k]ˤraw > jiao 郊 are phonologically close in Old Chinese.

70 It was also worshipped as one’s ancestors (xian 先/xianzu 先祖). See Bodde, Festivals in Classical China, 250–52.

71 The zhuan 傳 commentary to Maoshi 毛詩 303 (“Xuanniao” 玄鳥) notes that Xie 契, progenitor of the Shang 商 dynasty (c. sixteenth century–eleventh century bce) and son of the mythical Di Ku 帝嚳 and Jian Di 簡狄, was born after performing a sacrifice to the Intercessor in the Suburbs. See Maoshi zhengyi 毛詩正義 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2000), 20.1700. See also the following line from the now lost Mingtang yueling 明堂月令 “On the day when the Black Bird arrives, perform a sacrifice to the Supreme Intercessor, so as to ask for a son” 玄鳥至之日，祠于高禖，以請子, cited in Wang and Li eds., Shuowen jiezi (biaodian zhengli ben), 12.308.

72 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 59. The correspondence does not necessarily imply that the sacrifice is a fertility ritual. It is possible that the sacrifice was performed annually because the sacrifice to the First Herdsman—which is not a fertility ritual—was also performed annually. See Zhouli zhushu, 33.1013.

73 The etymon of mu 牡 is animals with male genitalia. The 土 component in modern orthography is originally 丄 in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions, which is a depiction of the male genitalia. See Li Xueqin 李學勤, ed., Ziyuan 字源 (Tianjin: Tianjin guji, 2013), 69. Additionally, mu 牡 is often used alongside pin 牝 (“animals with female genitalia”) to denote the process of copulation in early Chinese sources. See, for example, the expression “the union/intercourse of female and male” 牝牡之合/牝牡之會 in Wang Ka 王卡, ed., Laozi Daodejing Heshanggong zhangju 老子道德經河上公章句 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1997), 3.212; Huang Hui 黃暉, ed., Lunheng jiaoshi 論衡校釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1990), 3.161.

74 Chen Sipeng 陳斯鵬, “Zhanguo Qin Han jianbo zhong de zhudao wen” 戰國秦漢簡帛中的祝禱文, in Jianbo wenxian yu wenxue kaolun 簡帛文獻與文學考論 (Guangzhou: Zhongshan daxue, 2007), 119.

75 Constance A. Cook and Xinhui Luo 羅新慧, Birth in Ancient China: A Study of Metaphor and Cultural Identity in Pre-Imperial China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017), 23–29.

76 Inscriptions no. 55 and 359, in Lin Su-ching 林素清, “Liang Han jingming huibian” 兩漢鏡銘彙編, in Gu wenzi xue lunwen ji 古文字學論文集, eds. Chou Feng-wu 周鳳五 and Lin Su-ching (Taipei: Guoli bianyi guan, 1999), 240, 269.

77 For a similar observation about the Ma ritual, see Wang, “Hexi Han jian suojian ‘Mamei zhu’ yu ‘Mayi’ ‘Maxiazu’ zhiren,” 11; Wang Zijin, Qin Han mingwu congkao 秦漢名物叢考 (Beijing: Dongfang, 2015), 90–91.

78 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 157.

79 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 59.

80 Bing 丙 is considered a sign of fire in Huainanzi and Shi ji 史記. See Lau, Huainanzi yundu ji jiaokan, 3.86–87; Shi ji, 27.1566.

81 There is also nothing in the *Ci Mamei text that tells us how frequently the ritual was performed. Sterckx notes that the last line “I dare not forget (your grace) every year” 吾歲不敢忘 in the Shuihudi Ma text indicates that the sacrifice was performed annually. See Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 55.

82 R. H. van Gulik, Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from 1500 BC–1644 CE (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 17.

83 Izushi Yoshihiko 出石誠彥, Shina shinwa densetsu no kenkyū 支那神話傳說の研究 (Tokyo: Chūō kōronsha, 1943), 75–82; Michael Loewe, Ways to Paradise: The Chinese Quest for Immortality (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1979), 129; Sarah Allan, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), 31–33. See also the following fragment of Chunqiu yuanmingbao 春秋元命苞, an apocryphal text (weishu 緯書) believed to be composed in the Han, “The number of yang arises from one and is complete by three; hence, there is the three-legged crow in the sun” (陽數起於一，成於三，故日中有三足烏), cited in Taiping yulan 太平御覽 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1995), 3.15.

84 Bodde, Festivals in Classical China, 257–61.

85 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 55; Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507. In the *Bishe 避射 (Dodging Arrows) ritual documented on Qin bamboo strips in Peking University’s collection, the deity to which the ritual is dedicated is also referred to as “Master-and-Lord” (zhujun 主君). See Beijing daxue chutu wenxian yu gudai wenming yanjiusuo, ed., Beijing daxue cang Qin jiandu (si) 北京大學藏秦簡牘 (肆) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2023), 853.

86 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

87 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 55.

88 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, 67; Chen Kanli 陳侃理, “Qin jiandu fusheng gushi yu yifeng yisu” 秦簡牘復生故事與移風易俗, Jianbo 8 (2013), 78.

89 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 393.

90 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 157.

91 It is also possible that the text was written in a dialect that melded *-uk and *-ək, or did not distinguish between *-uk and *-ək in the same way that reconstructed Old Chinese does.

92 Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 293–94.

93 Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 291–335. Strips 73EJT11: 23, 73EJT24: 976, and 73EJT26: 119 from Jianshui Jinguan also show that words from the Yang 陽 rhyme category are used in the prayer of the ritual. See Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 393, 396.

94 “X” is a body part of horses, while “Y” is a word with the *-aŋ rhyme.

95 On rhymes of the Ma text, see Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 314–15. The rhyme category of *mә-lək > shi 食 in the second-to-last line of the text cited in Krijgsman’s paper should be Zhi 職 (*-ək), not Zhi 之 (*-ə).

96 Rhyme changes are also used in other excavated “manuals” from early China for denoting changes in the nature of actions recorded in the manuals. For example, Donald Harper has argued that the rhyme change from *-aŋ to *-en (traditional Yuan 元)/*-ən (traditional Wen 文)/*-in (traditional Zhen 真) in the bedchamber (fangzhong 房中) manual *He yinyang 合陰陽 from Mawangdui M3 might indicate a transition from foreplay to more direct sexual action. See Donald Harper, “The Sexual Arts of Ancient China as Described in a Manuscript of the Second Century B.C.,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 47.2 (1987), 568.

97 Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 300–301.

98 On how rhymes could have created an immersive reading experience in early China, see Peter Tsung Kei Wong 王棕琦, “The Soundscape of the Huainanzi: Poetry, Performance, Philosophy, and Praxis in Early China,” Early China 45 (2022), 515–39.

59 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 55.

60 Zhouli notes a sacrifice performed to the First Herdsman (Xianmu 先牧) in summer, which is to be carried out by the Commander of the Stables (Xiaoren 校人) and horse trainers (souren 廋人). See Zhouli zhushu, 33.1013, 1018.

61 The first line of Ma is a prayer (zhu 祝) that reads “Unite the spirits of the First Herdsman and the Horse Intercessor of Day Bing” 先牧、日丙馬禖合神. See Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

62 One is to face east, and the other is to face south during the ritual. See Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

63 The line in Ma reads, “[If] you, my master-and-lord, protect [my] foals” (主君苟屏童馬). See Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507. *[d]ˤoŋ > tong 童 is written as *[l]ˤoŋ > tong 詷 in the manuscript; I follow Liu Xinfang’s 劉信芳 reading of the graph as tong 童. See Liu Xinfang, “Shuihudi Qin jian Rishu Mamei fenzhang shidu bushuo” 睡虎地秦簡日書⟪馬禖⟫分章釋讀補說, Wenbo 文博 1 (2018), 58.

99 Lai Guolong 來國龍, “Mawangdui Taiyizhu tu kao” 馬王堆⟪太一祝圖⟫考, Zhejiang daxue yishu yu kaogu yanjiu 浙江大學藝術與考古研究 1 (2014), 6–9. Mou 某 as a placeholder of names is featured in a prayer in the “Jinteng” 金縢 chapter of Shangshu 尚書. See Shangshu zhengyi 尚書正義 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2000), 13.395. It is also extensively used in ritual discourses, such as those in Yili 儀禮. See, for example, the “Shi xiangjian li” 士相見禮 chapter, in Yili zhushu 儀禮注疏 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2000), 7.126–44.

100 For an exegetical analysis of the two phrases, see Liu Zhao 劉釗, “Jiangsu Gaoyou Shaojiagou Han dai yizhi chutu mujian shenming kaoshi” 江蘇高郵邵家溝漢代遺址出土木簡神名考釋, in Gu wenzi kaoshi conggao 古文字考釋叢稿 (Changsha: Yuelu, 2004), 347–48.

101 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 157.

102 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 435.

103 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 554.

104 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 545.

105 Zhouli zhushu, 41.1339–40. See also Zheng Xuan’s commentary to this line, “[The expression] zengsun zhuhou refers to one’s descendants who will, in later ages, become territorial lords” 曾孫諸侯，謂女後世為諸侯者.

106 Following Huang Huaixin’s 黃懷信 corrections. See Huang Huaixin, ed., Da Dai liji huijiao jizhu 大戴禮記彙校集注 (Xi’an: Sanqin, 2004), 12.1339–41.

107 For a parallel perspective, see Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 291–335.

108 The Shuihudi Ma text was previously (and inaccurately) identified as a text on horse physiognomy. See He Runkun 賀潤坤, “Cong Yunmeng Qin jian Rishu kan Qin guo de liuchu siyang ye” 從雲夢秦簡⟪日書⟫看秦國的六畜飼養業, Wenbo 6 (1989), 65–67. For a convincing rebuttal of this notion, see Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 75. On animal physiognomy in early China, see Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 72–75; Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Material Virtue: Ethics and the Body in Early China (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 129–32.

109 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

110 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 393, 396.

111 The Yang 陽 rhyme in the first phrase of this line is at the second-last character *[ts]aŋ > jiang 將 in lieu of the last character *[k]ʷәr > jun 軍.

112 It is not entirely clear whether *riŋ-s (Baxter-Sagart)/*reŋ(h) (Schuessler) > ling 令 (*-iŋ/*-eŋ 耕) is a rhyme in the text. For Schuessler’s Old Chinese phonological reconstructions, see Axel Schuessler, Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese: A Companion to Grammata Serica Recensa (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2009). For examples of cross-rhyming between the rhyme categories Geng 耕 and Yang 陽, see Chen, Guyin yanjiu, 469–70.

113 Miao Qiyu 繆啟愉 and Miao Guilong 繆桂龍, eds., Qimin yaoshu jiaoshi 齊民要術校釋 (Beijing: Nongye, 1982), 6.278. Although Qimin yaoshu is an early medieval text, I still include phonological reconstructions of Old Chinese because this particular passage could have been taken from an earlier source. Parallels of the Qimin yaoshu passage are also seen in medieval category books (leishu 類書), including Chuxue ji 初學記 and Taiping yulan, which ascribe the passage to Xiangma jing 相馬經 and Bole xiangma jing 伯樂相馬經 respectively. See Chuxue ji (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1962), 29.703; Taiping yulan, 896.3978.

114 On horse illness and medicine in the Han era, see Wang, “Hexi Han jian suojian ‘Mamei zhu’ yu ‘Mayi’ ‘Maxiazu’ zhiren,” 12–14. See also the newly published *Liaoma shu 療馬書 (Document on Healing Horses) bamboo manuscript from a Western Han tomb M3 in Tianhui 天回, Sichuan 四川, in Tianhui yi jian zhenglizu 天回醫簡整理組, ed., Tianhui yi jian (xia) 天回醫簡 (下) (Beijing: Wenwu, 2022), 129–46.

117 With the exception of “Let [their] ears be sharp and [their] sight be clear” (令耳聰目明).

118 With the possible exception of the last line “Their four legs are the district commandants, and [one] would want them to be long” (四下為令，欲得長)—*riŋ-s (Baxter-Sagart)/*reŋ(h) (Schuessler) > ling 令belongs to the Geng 耕 rhyme category.

115 Sterckx, “An Ancient Chinese Horse Ritual,” 57; Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 314–16. On rhymes and repetition as devices for imparting effectiveness to magical charms in ancient Greece, see H. S. Versnel, “The Poetics of the Magical Charm: An Essay in the Power of Words,” in Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World, eds. Paul Mirecki and Marvin Meyer (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 130–35.

116 Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages,” 328–30.

119 Texts on human and animal physiognomy are classified into the “Calculations and Procedures” (shushu 數術) category in the “Bibliographical Treatise” (Yiwen zhi 藝文志) of Han shu. See Han shu, 30.1774–75, and Lisa Raphals, “Divination in the Han shu Bibliographic Treatise,” Early China 32 (2009), 91–92.

120 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 157.

121 Chen, ed., Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, 507.

122 Liu, “Du Jianshui Jinguan Han jian ‘Mamei zhuci’ xiaozha,” 393.

123 For relevant studies, see Michael Loewe, “Wood and Bamboo Administrative Documents of the Han Period,” in New Sources of Early Chinese History: An Introduction to the Reading of Inscriptions and Manuscripts, ed. Edward L. Shaughnessy (Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1997), 190–91; Lothar von Falkenhausen, “Social Ranking in Chu Tombs: The Mortuary Background of the Warring States Manuscript Finds,” Monumenta Serica 51 (2003), 439–526; Enno Giele, “Using Early Chinese Manuscripts as Historical Source Materials,” Monumenta Serica 51 (2003), 428–31; Yuri Pines, “History as a Guide to the Netherworld: Rethinking the Chunqiu shiyu,” Journal of Chinese Religions 31 (2003), 117–21; Yang Hua 楊華, “Zhongguo gumu weihe suizang shuji” 中國古墓為何隨葬書籍, Lingnan xuebao 嶺南學報 10 (2018), 187–209; Luke Waring, “Writing and Materiality in the Three Han Dynasty Tombs at Mawangdui,” (PhD diss., Princeton University, 2019), 444–75.

124 But this is not to say that the manuscript was produced just for entombment; it is certainly possible that it had been consulted by those learning about or performing the ritual and was already in the tomb occupant’s possession while he was alive. On entombed texts as talismans, see Loewe, “Wood and Bamboo Administrative Documents of the Han Period,” 190; Lai Guolong, “Death and the Otherworldly Journey in Early China as Seen through Tomb Texts, Travel Paraphernalia, and Road Rituals,” Asia Major, 3rd. ser., 18.1 (2005), 1–44; Luke Waring, “What the Single Bamboo Slip Found in Mawangdui Tomb M2 Tells Us about Text and Ritual in Early China,” T’oung Pao 106 (2020), 56–86.

125 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan liangzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian,” 6.

126 Jingzhou bowuguan, ed., Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian (san san liu hao mu), 225–26.

127 Jingzhou diqu bowuguan, “Jiangling Zhangjiashan liangzuo Han mu chutu dapi zhujian,” 7.

Figure 0

Figure 1. “Drooping leg” strokes in manuscripts from Zhangjiashan M336, M247, Shuihudi M11, and Zhoujiatai M30.

Figure 1

Table 1. Differences between the *Ci Mamei and Ma sacrifices

Figure 2

Table 2. Parallels of the formulaic expression (強飲強食，予某大福) in early Chinese daybook manuscripts and received literature

Figure 3

Table 3. Formulaic passages in Ma and Qimin yaoshu

Figure 4

Table 4. Format of formulaic expressions in *Ci Mamei, Ma, and Qimin yaoshu

Figure 5

Figure 2. Wooden horse figurine from M336122.